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I've been thinking about this a bit. Longtime readers know my distaste for
the very term. Dubya doesn't like it either.
But if you go back to some of the various stuff that has been posted...
(Newt's bit. Stuff about what was done in conquered countries after WW II,
stories about the Four Tigers, etc.) well... maybe I'm wrong in my
generalised disdain.
Maybe there's good nation building (West Germany) and bad nation building
(Somalia).
Here is a piece that I'm not sure I agree with but which is an interesting
read. Written way way before 911 so it's about Africa. (remember Africa? I
bet it's still in just as much a crisis as it was on 10 September, maybe a
bit worse) It's in two parts.
http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg050300.html
http://www.nationalreview.com/goldberg/goldberg051000.html
Like I said, not totally to my liking but worthy of thought.
Yes, think about this for a bit. If what we have now is a war between a free
civilization and an implacable enemy opposed to freedom and material
prosperity and all the good stuff we like, it can't be won on the
battlefield. At least not permanently. Newt made that point and so have many
others.
Battlefield victories with nothing after breed more trouble a generation
from now. (c.f. Iraq) It is, as the cliche says, asymmetrical.
The war has to be taken to the hearts and minds of the oppressed common
people who now, forming a breeding ground for bad things, are the source of
our enemy's strength... not to vanquish them and trod them under heel, but
to convert them to wanting the things we want (freedom, tolerance, peace,
prosperity). And for purely selfish reasons, not altruistic. Selfish in that
doing so will keep us (and them) safe.
Maybe I'm all wet. But maybe pure isolationism and "if you leave the border
you are on your own" thinking is wrong, at least in part. I hate to be wrong
about stuff, but can we build an impenetrable fortress and keep terrorists
out while remaining free and remaining open to immigrants who want to come
to the free world? I am thinking not.
So just like combatting mosquitoes is best accomplished by draining swamps
rather than just erecting netting or spraying DDT (although netting is
needed too, and yes, draining swamps can have bad consequences, but work
with me here) maybe what is needed here is better airport security AND
nation building.
But the old way of pouring aid into USAID and giving it out to kleptocrats
ain't gonna work. We need WalMart to go in and do some capitalism action. Or
something like that.
As to how to do it, again, look at the Goldberg piece. He's suggesting doing
it in a way that turns a profit, so to speak, while doing good. (1) He's
suggesting doing it as a radiating outward sort of action. Maybe the place
to start is Iraq. Disassemble the current regime and restructure. And as the
waves flow outward, if that happens to take the Saudi Arabia regime down and
stop people getting their hands chopped off for stealing a loaf of bread, oh
darn. And if it happens to take Syria and Jordan and the PA and Israel
regimes down too so they're a bit, or a lot less barbaric, darn too.
Is this a fully formed idea? Hardly. So don't attack the details.
If you must, attack the general idea: We need more than just old solutions
and limited wars and aid given out with no strings and platitudes, we need
to force people to be free and happy and peaceful and prosperous whether
they currently want to be or not, because our way of doing things IS better
than some tinpot dictator living in a palace and handing out contracts to
his relatives (Yes, King Fahd, I am talking about you. Just because you're
OUR despot doesn't mean you shouldn't worry).
But we can't be in a rush, although we want to be, about the democracy part,
necessarily, until the people are ready for it. Taiwan wasn't ready for
losing their strongman until their percapita income was high enough. Boy
does that sound distasteful to me. This whole post does, actually. But what
are the alternatives? Perpetual war with the have nots?
1 - a small example of this is McDonalds in Russia. They built an entire
infrastructure (farm to freezer, farm to pickle jar, transport networks,
etc.) to supply the components of Big Macs to their restaurants and as a
result their workers can get groceries safely. What may be needed is a much
bigger example of this.
++Lar
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